The Equal Protection Project, a conservative legal group that opposes race-based affirmative action programs, filed a complaint against UMass Boston and 19 other universities over their participation in the North Star Collective BIPOC Fellowship.
The fellowship, launched in 2021 by the New England Board of Higher Education, exists to “boost Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) early-career faculty at New England colleges and universities,” NEBHE wrote in a now-removed post on its website. NEBHE has not said why pages about the program are no longer accessible.
The complaint, filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, calls for investigations and funding cuts for UMass Boston, UMass Amherst, Boston University, and 17 other New England colleges and universities. The complainant argues that the program “discriminates on the basis of race, color, and/or national origin in violation of Title VI.”
The fellowship includes an annual stipend of $1500 for research and professional development, monthly virtual workshops, mentorship with more experienced faculty and an annual retreat. It is open to self-identifying BIPOC faculty in their first five years of teaching at a member institution, according to NEBHE documents.
The Equal Protection Project is a branch of the Legal Insurrection Foundation, which refers to itself as a “civil rights group” that “seeks to ensure equal protection under the law and non-discrimination by the government, and that opposes racial discrimination in any form.”
“The North Star BIPOC Fellowship discriminates against whites,” William Jacobson, the founder of the Equal Protection Project, stated in a press release distributed by the public relations firm Athos PR. “OCR under the new leadership of Secretary of Education Linda McMahan already has shown a willingness to aggressively enforce the civil rights laws. We hope that OCR will use the North Star Collective BIPOC Fellowship to set an example that segregationist tactics in higher education will not be tolerated, including at the faculty level.”
NEBHE announced the fellowship in 2021 as part of a reparative justice initiative. “The fellowship reflects the organization’s commitment to reparative justice as it seeks to address structural racism and institutional inequalities in the academy, as well as to repair the harm and trauma to BIPOC faculty created by toxic campus cultures,” NEBHE wrote in a document for its spring 2021 board meeting in 2021.
“We believe it is important that higher education institutions acknowledge the ways in which they have benefitted directly or indirectly from slavery and the long legacy of white supremacy,” the document states.
“The university does not comment on ongoing administrative complaints or litigation,” wrote DeWayne Lehman, UMass Boston’s director of communications. A spokesperson for NEBHE did not respond to a request for comment.
In the same statement, Jacobson cited OCR guidance issued in February in claiming that it “has always been the law” that affirmative action programs are illegal. The guidance was issued following a Jan. 21 executive order titled “ENDING ILLEGAL DISCRIMINATION AND RESTORING MERIT-BASED OPPORTUNITY.”
